Insanity Could Be Fun
by OptionA
Summary: Iida leads Izuku and Ochako in a search for his missing brother and things go horribly wrong when they get captured by a villain with a mind control quirk. Note: Not sure whether to continue this. Honestly just had an idea running around my head and pounded out a oneshot type thing. If you enjoyed this or have any ideas as to where this could go, I'm open to suggestions.


Tenya Iida's feet pounded the stone floor as he tore around the corner; his breath coming in shallow, ragged, bursts. His engines sputtered for a moment and he felt himself stumble, he fumbled to catch himself. His muscles screamed as he dragged his body forward, but he ignored their pleas for rest, he couldn't let himself stop.

He had to run, to keep running no matter how long it took him, no matter how exhausted he got. He had to find the exit! He had to find a way to save them!

An explosion sounded off to his right, shaking bits of dust and rubble from the ceiling. This hadn't been the first such explosion and Iida realized, with a growing panic, that the source seemed to be moving closer. With a start, Iida pulled his torn shirt over his mouth to avoid inhaling the debris. His eyes strained forward, squinting to see through the haze of dust. He had to keep moving, to go as fast and as far as possible.

He scanned the new hallway. Like all the others it was an interminable stretch of bare stone, marred only by identical offshooting hallways. It was almost maddening how similar everything looked. He had no way to tell if he had already passed through here. It seemed entirely possible that he simply been running in circles. He had long since given up on trying to create a mental map of the labyrinthine hallways. His previous attempts had been rendered useless after his 221st right turn.

It had been countless hours since he had begun this endless trek, and he hadn't seen any sign that an exit even existed. He had only rested in brief stops, but he hadn't let himself sleep and he hadn't eaten anything since he had made his escape. Oh how he wanted to sleep, to just collapse in a heap against the wall, to just close his eyes for only a moment. But no, they would surely find him if he did that, and he wouldn't have any way to stop them. A thought trickled into his mind, this was something like a long marathon. Yeah, he realized suddenly, that was how he should treat it.

Maybe, this way he could avoid panicking.

This was just another marathon, he told himself as he stumbled on.

He had always been good at running after all, so a simple marathon was nothing. This was nothing more than a nice run in an old castle.

That crashing sound that shook the building? That was just a sound effect for an immersive experience. Yeah.

Or maybe this was just an endurance test, that was why he was pushing himself so hard. He was good at running. He was Tenya Iida after all, running was the least of what he could do. He was going to prove that he was a good hero, that he could follow in his brother's footsteps; this was nothing.

This was just a race. He was going to reach the finish line soon. All of this pain was temporary. Once he finished the marathon, it would all be over, everything would be okay.

The engines on his legs sputtered again and he fell face forward onto the cold stone floor. The floor was so impossibly refreshing as he leaned against its cool, smooth, surface.

He had never felt anything so pleasant and relieving, he never wanted to move again.

He breathed in, his breaths still shallow and quick, unable to steady himself. His throat burned. When was the last time that he had water? It didn't matter. Tensei would surely be waiting for him at the finish line, holding a nice, cool, bottle reserved just for him. Maybe Deku and Ochako would be there, smiling and proud of him. He dwelled in that thought for a moment, and suddenly he was there.

He wasn't collapsed in a stone labyrinth, he was running across the finish line. He had come in first. He was tearing the red ribbon as cameras flashed. Then Tensei and Deku and Ochako and even the rest of the class, were there, they were all smiling and handing out congratulations. All Might was telling him how many lives he could save with the reward money. Everyone was so happy and...suddenly Deku was grinning at him, Uraraka was beaming at him with her huge smile, but their expressions were changing. The world was warping.

He was no longer standing in glory, he was frozen in fear.

Panic clawed its way up his throat as he watched the terrifying scene replay.

The cold room. His brother's cold eyes. That figure, his hands still resting on their foreheads. His red eyes boring into Iida's soul. Izuku's last words, a whisper as he offered himself up. "Run Iida. You need to be the one to get out. You need to get help." Uraraka's brave, parting, smile as she approached the man on the throne. His brother's look of satisfaction as they knelt down. A moment of gut wrenching dread as the man's yellow eyes flashed red. The heart stopping fear moments later, as his two friends turned their heads to fix him with matching, hungry, grins.

His heart thudded in his chest, reminding him for just a moment that he was not truly there once again, that he had escaped those eyes. Suddenly he was drowning, swallowed by those memories once again.

He wanted to protest, to fight his way back to reality, but he was already being dragged through his memories like a spectator, trapped inside his body and unable to change what he knew was coming.

It had all started a week before, on a deceptively ordinary Friday. He was in class with the rest of the 1-A students, and Mr. Aizawa was giving an engaging lecture on the importance of smart costume design. "...Those frivolous capes and such that the classical heroes wore are thoroughly impractical. Capes are notorious for getting caught on things and you can't have a liability like that, especially when in a fight with a villain. So no, you will NOT be able to have one on your costume, Aoyama."

"But, sir. Think about it, it would be so elegant." Aoyama said with a twinkling smile.

Mr. Aizawa shook his head in irritation. "No capes! I don't care how elegant they may be."

Izuku's hand shot up into the air.

"Midoriya?" Aizawa said with a sigh.

"Mr. Aizawa, All Might and plenty of other heroes have had capes integrated into their costumes. Why can't we do the same?"

A wave of agreement came from around the room.

"Well," Aizawa said, red eyes narrowed in frustration. "First of all, All Might is a special case. Second, your all still stu-"

An insistent knock came from the door, resonating around the room, cutting the teacher off mid sentence. A ripple of excitement rolled throughout the classroom. No one boring ever came to knock on their door, so whoever it was was guaranteed to be someone interesting.

"Coming." Aizawa called out as he moved towards the door, shooting the students a glare in warning.

When he reached the door, he wrenched it open, fixing the person beyond it with his tired eyes. "What do you want?" When he saw who it was, his bored expression morphed into a look of wide eyed surprise. "Detective Tsukauchi? What are you doing here?"

A very bland looking man, with black hair and kind eyes, dressed in a tan trench cloak poked his head into the room.

"I've come to speak to Tenya Iida. Is now not a good time?" He asked with a raised eyebrow.

"I suppose that now's as good a time as any." Aizawa said with a shrug, having returned to his regular moody disposition. He shot his student a look. "Iida? Do you know anything about this?"

"N-no sir." Iida said, standing from his seat. "But I would like to hear what he has to say."

"K, well go talk outside then." The teacher grumbled, returning to his position in the center of the classroom. "I don't want any more disruptions in my class."

Iida gave a stiff nod and strode out into the hallway. He heard Aizawa resume his lecture as he closed the door behind him.

"What did you want to talk about Detective?" Iida asked as he turned around. "I'm not in trouble for anything, am I?"

"No." The detective said, his expression growing cloudy. "I've come today to talk to you about your brother." He said solemnly. "As you may know, your brother has been missing for some days now."

Iida gave a slow nod. He hadn't given the news much thought when he had first heard it, after all it was not entirely uncommon for heroes like Tensei to fall off the grid every now and then.

"Well we've found him." The detective said cautiously.

Dread grew in Iida's stomach. "Is he okay? Is he hurt? Don't tell me that he's… dead-"

"N-no." The detective said quickly. "The last we saw of him, he looked fine. In fact, he looked perfectly healthy. It's just that… he was acting rather strange."

"Strange?"

The detective gave a solemn nod. "We spotted him in some security footage. He was…" The man cleared his throat uncomfortably. "He was stealing from a museum."

Iida stared at him in disbelief. His brother? His lawful, kind, older brother? Stealing?

"A-are you sure that that wasn't just a villain disguised as him? It could have been Himiko Toga, or someone like that."

"Well, that's what I thought at first too. But when he was confronted by the security guards, your brother used his quirk and attacked them. Unfortunately this does prove his identity as the true Tensei Iida. You can ask the guards yourself, if you don't believe me, they've been hospitalized at Mercy General."

"No I believe you, it's just… why would Tensei… ?" Iida asked, baffled, before shaking his head. "He must have had a reason."

"That's what we were thinking. Do you know anything about what your brother might have been investigating before he disappeared? It's possible that it could give us some clues as to what happened to him and what he's after now."

Iida frowned. The truth was that his brother had confided in him, but he had made him swear to secrecy.

"N-no. I'm afraid that I don't." He said looking away.

The detective looked deep into Iida's eyes, as if he knew that the boy had lied, but didn't comment on it. Instead he gave a sigh of exhaustion.

"Well," The detective said, pulling a card out of his coat pocket and holding it out to Iida. "If anything ever occurs to you. Call me at this number."

"Th-thank you for informing me." Iida said, taking the card shakily.

"I'll be off then." The man said with a small smile, turning around. "Be sure to call me." He said over his shoulder as he walked away.

Once the man was gone Iida studied the card. It read "Naomasa Tsukauchi, Detective for the Police Force", underneath was a phone number and an email address. Iida folded the card and stuck it into his pocket. He didn't plan on calling that man anytime soon.

It wasn't that Iida thought that Detective Tsukauchi was untrustworthy. Instead, it had simply occurred to him that it would be best to investigate his brother's wearabout on his own, before telling the Police Force the information that his brother had gone so far to hide.

He turned back towards the classroom and opened the door. He couldn't afford to miss even more class time.

Later that night, Iida lay awake, unable to sleep. The issue with his rogue brother was clawing away at his mind. He felt called to action, and he couldn't just let his brother stay as he was. But it wasn't his place to meddle in the affairs of the Police and he was still a student. Perhaps this was simply an issue for the authorities, but they hadn't seemed to have any idea on what to do about Tensei.

In the end, didn't Iida have a duty to his brother to at least find out if he was okay?

IIda sat up and fumbled his way over to his desk, turning on a desk lamp, before tearing open one of his drawers and rifling through the papers contained there.

Before his brother had disappeared he had left a file with Iida. He had made Iida swear not to read its contents nor share it with anyone, unless there were a real emergency. An emergency such as this.

He had found the file and put it carefully on his desk. He opened it slowly, suddenly feeling a rush of dread. What if it contained tales of murder and gore? What if it revealed something truly gruesome about his brother? Something that he had been better off not knowing?

Contained inside the manila folder were three underwhelmingly simple pages of information. The first was a picture of an old castle on a hilltop, scrolled in the corner was an address and the words "The Manor?".

On the next page was a list of people, each complete with a photo, a name, an occupation, and a quirk.

The final page looked like a profile for a villain. There was no photo for them, but typed out at the top was the name "The Puppetmaster". He read the block of text that filled the majority of the page. To surmise, it seemed that his brother had been chasing a man who he referred to as "The Puppetmaster", although he was often called "Master", in some of the testimonies that Tensei referenced, or "The Mastermind" in his own speech. Iida wasn't entirely sure what kind of a quirk this villain possessed, but it was clear that he had a lot of loyal followers; that was who Iida suspected was profiled on the second page.

It was clear to him that his brother had either been captured by or was still in pursuit of this Puppetmaster. Regardless, these revelations had only steeled Iida's resolve. His brother was definitely in danger and the authorities weren't able to help him. This "Manor" would be a good place to start.

But how was he going to get away from school long enough to investigate?

What would he do if he failed?

The next morning, at breakfast, he pulled his two best friends aside, thinking that they could perhaps cover for his absence while he searched for his brother.

"Hey Iida, whats up?" Izuku asked with a cheerful smile. A look of concern flickered across his face when she saw Iida's solemn expression. "Are you feeling okay? You disappeared pretty quickly after school yesterday."

"Yeah, what happened with that detective guy?" Ochako asked, stifling a yawn.

"Well…" Iida said, picking his words carefully. "My brother has gone missing."

Ochako gasped. "Thats horrible."

"Do the police know anything?" Izuku asked, his green eyes wide in concern.

"That's the thing, they don't… I have an idea of where my brother could be, but before he disappeared he was adamant that not many people know about his mission. So, I'm planning to go after him. That means that I'll have to be gone for at least a few days. So I was wondering…"

He suddenly felt very awkward. It was a lot to ask of them out of the blue, to lie to their teachers and idols, just so that he could go and look for someone they had never met.

"Would you be willing to cover for me?"

For a second Izuku and Ochako shared a look that Iida couldn't decipher.

"No." Izuku said solemnly. "We're not going to cover for you."

"We're coming with you." Ochako said, breaking into a smile. "There's no way that we can let you go alone."

"Are you sure?" Iida asked glancing between them. "You could be risking your lives. After all, my brother, a licensed hero, disappeared while following this guy."

"Yeah." Izuku said, grinning from ear to ear. "What else are friends for?"

"Of course." Ochako said nodding. "I'm a little worried, actually," She admitted. "But who knows, it could be fun. You know, break the rules a bit."

Izuku gave a laugh. "Right? Oh what gear should we take? I think that we should go in street clothes and say that we're going on a camping trip or something."

"Mhm." Ochako said nodding emphatically. "That way, we can be gone for a few days and they won't be looking for us."

"Guys…" Iida said, suddenly feeling his eyes sting. "I-I can't believe that you'd be willing to do this for me."

"Don't worry," Izuku said. "We'll be fine."

"But it might be dangerous." Iida insisted.

"Well I don't think that it'll be that dangerous." Izuku said with a grin. "I'm sure that we'll be able to handle anything they throw at us."

"Right? Even in a worst case scenario, we can call the heroes, and they'll save us." Ochako said with a reassuring smile. She suddenly had a look of earnest determination. "Plus, someone has to save your brother right? Shouldn't that be our job as future heroes?"

He felt the tears slide down his cheeks. He hadn't realized how worried he'd been about his brother until this moment when someone had told him that they were going to save him.

"Thank you." He choked out.

"Don't worry. We already told you. We're here for you." Izuku said, with a reassuring grin.

"Yeah." Ochako said, also smiling. "Save the waterworks for when we've actually found your brother."

After reporting that they would be camping in the mountains for the duration of a three day weekend, the school had let them go without much fuss. So, a week later, the three were crouched in the brush, only mere feet away from the Manor.

Iida looked down at the picture of the house, he decided that the building was much more intimidating in person. It was a vast monster of a building, made almost entirely of stone, with no less than five stories and two wings that fanned out along the roadside; all of this surrounded by fenced in gardens and greenhouses. They easily circumnavigated the six foot, iron, gate with the help of Ochako's quirk. They sprinted across the gardens, and darted in through an open window.

By this point, Iida shouldn't have ignored his gnawing suspicions, it had been far too easy to get this close; almost as if they were being lured in. There hadn't been a single guard, in fact they hadn't seen a single person, there had been no cameras, no traps; no nothing. But he had been too wrapped up in his sense of adventure, and his bottomless worry for his brother, to question the ease of their infiltration.

As soon as they set foot in the house, they had reached the point of no return.

They were creeping along the lavishly decorated halls, complete with hanging chandeliers, carpeted floors, and nicknacks on tables, when they turned a corner and found themselves face to face with a pair of tall metal doors. It was a dead end.

No problem, they would just turn around, right?

No.

"What are you three doing here?" A voice asked gravely.

Iida's eyes went wide in surprise and he spun around. There he was.

"T-Tensei? Your okay?" He exclaimed in relief. He went to hug him, but something stopped him. Izuku had grabbed his arm and held him back.

"Something doesn't feel right about him." He whispered in warning.

"Yeah, somethings wrong here." Ochako said with a nod, her eyes trained on the man who appeared to be Tensei.

That's when Iida saw it, something was wrong. Tensei was dressed differently, in a black waist length coat and a blouse; Iida had never seen his brother wear such clothes. To add to that, Tensei carried himself differently and his eyes held this cold, analytical, edge to them; his brother had never looked at Iida like that before.

"T-Tensei?" He asked shakily.

His brother narrowed his eyes and then his expression relaxed into a smile. "Yeah it's me, Tenya. I'm actually surprised that you found me."

"Are you okay?" Iida asked slowly, at once suspicious of his brother's sudden reappearance and relieved to see him safe. "Did you know that the police have been looking for you?"

"Right, well I suppose that I did do some pretty flashy things." Tensei said with a sheepish smile.

"They say that you stole from a museum and that you've hospitalized several security guards. Why would you do that?" Iida asked, searching for this man's eyes for some sign of his brother; the way that he spoke, the way his eyes moved, the way he shifted his body weight, he almost seemed like the brother he had known his whole life. Almost.

Tensei gave a sigh. "I'm afraid that I can't answer that, not even for you Tenya."

"Iida." Ochako hissed from behind him. "Something feels really wrong. Maybe we should come back for your brother another time, we need to get out of here!"

"I know." Iida whispered back, "But I just want to ask him one more question. I need to find out why he's here." He raised his voice and called out to his brother. "Then, can you at least tell me why you didn't come home?" Iida asked, his concern was growing with each passing second. As much as he agreed with Ochako, he needed answers.

"I can't tell you that either." His brother said, looking away. "Maybe…" Suddenly two cloaked figures dashed from around the corner, and charged at them, running right past Tensei.

He watched Iida's surprise and his friend's subsequent panic, with a mild amusement.

"Maybe it's best for you to experience it for yourself. I'm sure that you'll understand me much better that way."

Purple smoke began to spew out from under the cloaks as the figures approached, they were closing in fast and Iida couldn't decide how to counter them. What was that smoke? What were they trying to do? Were they working with Tensei? Were they armed?

"Iida!" Izuku exclaimed from behind him, leveling his finger at the two assailants and pulling back with his thumb. "Get out of the way!"

Iida dove to the side, exclaiming. "Wait but what about-"

Then Izuku released his finger at full cowl, and with a bang and a rush of wind everything was blown away.

A moment passed in gross disorientation in the aftermath, and Iida's ears rang, only adding to his confusion.

"Is everyone okay?" Izuku asked with a cough. He had been knocked down by the blast and was stumbling to his feet, cradling his broken finger.

"All good here." Ochako said from nearby, she was using the wall to help her stand.

"Did anyone see what happened to my brother?"Iida asked, suddenly gripped by the fear that Izuku might have accidentally blown him to bits.

He scanned the remains of the hall in a shaky panic. The space had been completely destroyed, it was nothing more than gaping holes and settling piles of rubble. A thin veil of dust had begun to thicken around them -No, Iida realized with a start, that was purple smoke.

"I see." Tensei said from behind them. "Its cute to know that you still worry about me Tenya."

The trio spun around to find that both Tensei and the cloaked figures were still very much alive.

"It's a good thing that I have quick reflexes." Tensei said, grinning deviously.

"Fortunate indeed." Izuku said begrudgingly, as he discreetly put his finger in position and just barely raised his hand, ready to fire another shot at full cowl, when Tensei disappeared in a flash.

"Izuku watch out-" Ochako exclaimed in warning.

Immediately, he reapered behind Izuku, grabbing both his hands and restraining him; disregarding the boy's gasp of pain when Tensei gripped his broken finger. "Too late little girl." He said with a grin, staring with cold amusement at Ochako's horror. "But the sentiment was much appreciated. And you, what was your name again? Izuku?" Tensei asked, grinning down at Izuku's face, contorted in pain. "You and I are going to have a lot of fun working together."

"Tensei!" Iida exclaimed in surprise, standing to look at his brother in horror. "I-I don't know why you're doing this, but you're hurting him. Stop. This isn't right. I don't know what's wrong, but this isn't you."

"Isn't me?" Tensei asked, looking up to meet his little brother's gaze. "No?" He said, cocking his head in mock confusion. After a second a wolfish grin grew across his lips and he threw his head back in a deep, guttural, laugh. "Not me? That's a good one. I'm having the time of my life Tenya." A little devious smile wandered across his face. "Well, hopefully you'll agree with me more soon…" He was grinning knowingly now, staring into Iida's eyes expectantly. For just a moment, Iida couldn't imagine what he was waiting for. Then Izuku made a weird face, his eyelids drooped and he collapsed suddenly, falling forward; his hands slipping easily out of Tenya's grasp before he fell to the floor.

"Izuku?" Ochako exclaimed in alarm from behind Iida, rushing forward. She didn't make it far before she suffered the same fate and collapsed onto the ground.

"Ochako?" Iida called, as crouched down and shook her motionless form. "Izuku!" He called out to his other friend, to much the same effect. "Tensei! What is this?" He exclaimed, looking up at his brother and his twisted grin. That stupid twisted grin! "What have you done to them?" A dark haze was quickly encroaching on his vision. His eyelids were being dragged down over his eyes and his body felt heavy and foreign. No! He had to stay awake. He couldn't let himself fall asleep. He managed to force out a final question as he looked up at his brother's cold eyes. "What happened to you…?"

His consciousness was fading and he barely felt the ground when he fell onto it.

When Iida next opened his eyes, he was laying on a thinly carpeted floor. His head pounded and his whole body ached. He sat up with a hiss of pain.

"Iida, you're finally awake." Izuku said in relief, he was sitting up against a wall, an arms length away.

"I think that we got hit by some sleep inducing quirk." Ochako said with a groan, rubbing her forehead with her palm.

"It was probably that purple smoke." Izuku said with a sympathetic nod.

"Does anyone know where we are?" Iida asked as he shot a look around him.

It was a simple room; four stone walls, one pair of iron doors, and no windows.

"None." Izuku said. "The two of us just woke up moments before you."

"Let's check the doors." Ochako suggested as she staggered to his feet.

Iida shook his head. "They're probably locked. What idiot would go through the trouble of knocking us out and then leave us free to walk around?"

"Apparently these guys…" Ochako said in astonishment, an eyebrow raised, her hand on the loose handle.

Iida stared at the door in bewilderment, as if it were some alien thing.

Tensei would have never made a mistake like this. So, why was the door...

"It could be a trap." Izuku said warily. "Why else would they leave it unlocked?"

Iida nodded, that made sense. "It probably is." He admitted.

"So what do we do about it?" Ochako asked, letting go of the handle.

"I say we go through it." Izuku said, eyeing the door with his big green eyes. "I mean it could be a trap, but they probably don't want us dead. It's more likely that they want us alive, otherwise they would have killed us in our sleep."

"Yeah, I agree." Ochako said with a nod. "Besides we still haven't figured out exactly what happened with your brother, Iida."

"Right…" Iida said, readjusting his glasses and picking himself up off the floor. "Let's just do this, we're going to have to face whatever's on the other side of that door sooner or later."

They stood at the door, ready to open it and confront the world beyond it. Izuku was the one to grab the handle and swing the doors outward. It was the moment of the big reveal.

The doors were open and beyond them was a large room; made and decorated the same as the house they had entered earlier, so they could infer that they were at least in the same building. A large chandelier of twisted metal and dripping candles illuminated a stone room with a soaring ceiling and towering archways. At the end of the room, was a throne and a man perched on it. Leaning on the back of that throne, stood Tensei, his mouth partly open as if he had been speaking to the man on the throne just prior to their entrance. Tensei's lips quickly twisted into a grin, his eyes narrowing with the same cold amusement that had now become customary, and he leaned away from the throne, standing up straight.

"I'm glad that you three finally woke up." The man perched on the throne said, smiling humorously. He was undeniably handsome, with his honey colored eyes and dark brown hair, but there was something unsettling about him; he was almost hypnotizing. "I've heard good things about you. I've mostly heard about the hard time you've been giving to my friend Tensei. You most of all." He said, gesturing to Izuku. "You managed to destroy a whole corridor of my manor. You have some frightening strength in that little body of yours. What kind of a quirk do you have?"

"I'm afraid that I can't tell you that." Izuku said calmly, his brow furrowed in determination.

"Then can you tell me your name?" The man asked, cocking his head, his amused smile only growing.

"Izuku Midoriya." He paused for a moment and ran his eyes over the man. "And you must be the Villain, 'Puppetmaster'."

"Yes, I suppose that that is me. Though, honestly, I'm not a huge fan of the name." He said with a shrug. "While we're doing introductions. To the miss with the short brown hair. What would your name be?"

Ochako narrowed her eyes. "Why should I have to answer that?" She asked.

"Oh?" The man said, an eyebrow jumping in surprise. "We have a bit of a spitfire here." A friendly smile grew across his lips and he leaned forward. "Don't worry, I don't mean anything malicious by it." He said, good naturedly, before turning his gaze to Iida. "And you must be Tenya Iida. Come chasing after your brother, have you?"

Iida shot a glare at the man. "What have you done to him? Why has he been acting like this?"

Rage flickered in Tensei's eyes for a millisecond, and he looked like he was about ready to charge at his brother for such blatant disrespect, when the Puppetmaster cut him off and let out a long, manic, laugh that echoed through the room.

It took the villain a second to recompose himself and everyone could only stare, stunned by the sudden development.

"Oh, god! That's just so cliche." He said, smiling from ear to ear. An expression that quickly turned malicious at his next words. "Iida, I did to him what I'm about to do to you."

The trio tensed, each ready to attack or defend, whichever came first.

"Oh calm down, you three, it won't hurt." The Puppetmaster said, fixing them with his cunning honey colored eyes. "I just need two of you to volunteer to come up first. If you need some persuasion we can arrange for that." He said cooly, and Tensei stepped forward to lower himself into a crouch, it was a pose that Iida had seen him use dozens of times against villains.

On the battlefield, it had always been reassuring to see his brother do this. Because this was a protective stance, it had always been a sign of his role as a hero in protecting the innocent no matter the cost. But now, facing his brother from the receiving end, it was absolutely terrifying. He looked like a human spear, poised to strike and ready to kill.

Iida could see it in his brother's eyes. He didn't care who he hurt, he meant to draw blood.

"-Wait!" Ochako exclaimed, breaking the tense silence and causing everyone jumping in surprise.

Even the Puppetmaster looked a little shocked.

"I would like to volunteer myself first." She said, her eyebrows set in determination.

"Ochako!" Izuku hissed in panic, grabbing her hand. "What are you doing?"

"Our only hope of getting out of this," She whispered back to him. "is if one of us escapes and gets help from the pro-heroes."

"Wait," Iida said. "We can still fight our way out. You don't have to do this."

She fixed him with her earnest brown eyes; she was set on this. "We don't know where we really are right now, nor how many enemies there might be. Let's say that we do make it past your brother, by some miracle. Then what? Where do we go? Won't we be heavily injured? On top of that, aren't those two cloaked guys from earlier still around? They could put us back to sleep, and then we would be back where we started but much worse for wear." She shook her head. "There's just too many variables. The best thing for us to do would be to create a diversion using two of us and have the third flee."

"That's a horrible plan!" Iida said.

"Well do you have a better one?" Ochoko shot back.

"Then Deku, you should be the one to flee." Iida whispered, his eyebrows creasing. "You have the strongest quirk out of the three of us."

Deku shook his head. "No, I don't have any stamina, besides if I used my quirk even once, I'd just be wandering around with a bunch of broken bones. Iida your quirk would be better for running away."

"Yeah," Ochako said with a nod of agreement. "Remember the attack at USJ? It was the same thing."

"B-but...I can't just leave you here." Iida said, his eyes wide.

"Don't worry about us," Uraraka said, smiling bravely, as she turned back around to face Tensei and the Puppetmsater. "We'll be fine."

Deku gave him a reassuring smile as he faced forward. "Just run Iida. You need to be the one to get out. You need to get help."

"Are you done arguing amongst yourselves?" Puppetmaster asked, grinning. "Good. I'm glad that we could end this without bloodshed."

Tensei stepped aside and let the two of them pass, watching them with a satisfied smile.

"Please kneel." The man said. They complied. Iida bit his lip nervously, as he glanced off to his left. There it was, a door, already ajar.

When he glanced back at the Puppetmaster, everyone's focus was on his friends. The man had his hand resting on their foreheads, his eyes pointed down. Wait had they just turned red?

It didn't matter, this was the perfect moment to escape.

He had to run, he knew that, but he couldn't look away.

He felt that he owed it to his friends to see their final moments.

A few stuttered heartbeats later and it was over, the man looked up. His eyes had returned to that gold color and he sat back on his throne.

"See, that wasn't so bad." He said, still looking down at Iida's friends.

Iida's heart pounded in his ears. They were turning around, slowly looking over their shoulders, turning to face him.

"Iida?" Ochako asked.

"What are you still doing here?" Izuku cocked his head.

They were grinning hungrily, smiling too wide. Their eyes had a strange glint in them, something sinister. Their voices were just a little off pitch. It was all wrong. Something had changed.

Iida couldn't move, couldn't look away.

"Oh? Were you planning to run?" The Puppetmaster asked, an eyebrow raised. He was amused.

Tensei had a big grin on his face, like he had just been told the best joke he had ever heard, and he let out a little snicker.

Iida was petrified in fear and they all thought it was funny.

Even Ochako and Izuku seemed to be stifling a laugh.

"That was a pretty stupid idea, wasn't it?" Ochako asked, hiding her smile behind her hand.

"Iida," Izuku said, standing to make room for him by the throne. "Why don't you just come here and get it over with?"

The Puppetmaster watched him expectantly.

Iida stared back at them with his wide eyes, and it hit him. His friends were gone. These two weren't them, these people were dangerous. He should have run when they had been distracted. Now, he had missed his chance. But maybe…

He stumbled to his feet. "M-maybe you have a point." Iida said, unable to meet their eyes.

He took one fluid, carefully measured, step forwards. Then another. And another. Now he had created a rhythm, they could expect his trajectory. Two more steps and he would be lined up with the door. All he had to do was turn and run.

Then he made the mistake of looking up and everything proceeded in slow motion.

Tensei was watching him, his eyes full of bright hope, which quickly turned to disappointment. Outrage flashed in his eyes as he saw Iida turn away, it had occurred to him exactly what his younger brother was doing.

That was the last thing Iida saw, because he disappeared in a flash. He went full speed through that door and didn't dare to look back. He took one corner, then another, and another, sprinting as fast as he could. He had expected his brother to be right behind him, but he never appeared. Iida had smiled in relief, he had thought that he was free. That he was going to escape and get help… but no. He was lying on the cold stone floor of the labyrinth.

Something moved in the peripheral of his vision. Was that a red shoe? Iida couldn't tell, his vision was swimming and everything was going blurry. Izuku wore red shoes. Maybe if Izuku had been the one to escape, he would have made it to the heroes already. Maybe they'd all be safe.

"Izuku?" He croaked out. "Run Izuku. You need to be the one to get out. You need to get help."

"Run?" A familiar voice said from above him.

"What's he blabbering about?" Another voice said.

"Poor guy, he must be delirious." Said a third.

"Well it's been almost two days, so I suppose that that makes sense." The second voice said.

"Well of course it does, Tensei, it doesn't matter how fast your quirk makes you, you're still human." The first voice said.

"Were we really that scary? I just can't believe that he was so scared of us that he ran for a full forty eight hours without stopping." The second voice said.

"Whatever the case, Deku I need you to prop him up. I'm going to try to get him to drink the water." The third voice said. She sounded so concerned. Why was she concerned?

Someone pushed their arms under his chest and tried to tear him away from his merciful ground. He struggled, but he couldn't push them away. No matter how he tried to break their grip, they held on tight.

Suddenly they were pushing him up the wrong way. He wasn't lying down, they had tried to sit him up, he shouldn't be vertical. He tried to scramble against them, he had to get back to solid ground. Then they were drowning him, shoving water and air into his mouth. He was gasping but he wasn't getting oxygen. He felt like a fish, floundering on the beach and breathing too much air.

The voices were going again.

"Ochako, I think that we need to take this slower." It was the first voice.

"Don't worry," It was the third. "He might be resisting, but the best thing for him right now is liquids. So we've got to start by forcing him to drink."

"I think that he needs to sleep." The second voice said, "If that were me, I would be beyond exhausted." He paused for a moment and something prodded at Iida's legs, he could feel so little down there that he had forgotten that he even had legs. "Oh he's really messed those up. He's going to need at least a week before he's able to walk on them."

"What makes you say that?" The first voice asked.

"Experience." The second voice said with a sigh. Something brushed against Iida's forehead. "Stupid little brother. You just don't know when to quit."

After that he blacked out for a while. They tried to drown him a few more times but then they seemed satisfied with their torture and they left him in peace. At one point, he could have sworn that he was floating, maybe he was flying through the air like a bird.

A lifetime later, he opened his eyes to find himself laying in a fluffy bed, staring at a canopied ceiling. He groaned. His whole body hurt. When he tried to shift himself, in an attempt to get a better handle on his surroundings, his body refused to cooperate.

It had only been a few seconds, but he already felt himself slipping back into the void, swallowed by the fluffy blankets.

When he next opened his eyes, he was in the same place.

At first glance nothing seemed to have changed, but after a second of trying to sit up, something moved in Iida's peripheral. He realized with a start that someone was there, they had been watching him sleep.

"Good morning sleepyhead." Tensei said with a smile, setting a book down next to him. "How are you feeling?" He asked, rising from his seat by the bed.

A rush of panic fluttered through Iida's chest, the last time he had seen his brother he had been near insane.

"W-what are you doing?" He stuttered in fear as his brother leaned over him. Tensei was bringing his hand down over Iida's face.

Was he going to try to suffocate him?

Maybe gauge his eyes out?

What was he doing?

In a struggle to resist, Iida tried to turn his face away but found it secured in place by the deep stack of pillows. He flinched when a warm hand came to rest on his forehead.

"Good." Tensei said after a moment, removing his hand and standing up straight, smiling down at his younger brother in relief. "Your fever's finally broken." He turned around for a moment, grabbing something from the nightstand. "Do you think that you could drink some water? You probably can't stomach any food yet and I know that water probably doesn't seem that appealing, but it'll help you get better faster." He reappeared in Iida's field of view, a glass of water in hand. "Do you need help sitting up?"

Iida watched him with wide eyes, terrified and confused. Why was his brother taking care of him? How could he act as if nothing had happened?

"Tenya?" His brother asked, suddenly concerned by his lack of a response.

For a second, Iida couldn't move, absolutely petrified. Abruptly, he seemed to remember himself and what could happen if he didn't respond.

"I-I'm fine. I think I can sit up by myself." He said, forcing a thin smile and scrambling to push himself up onto the pillows.

After a moment of getting settled, his psychotic brother carefully passed him the glass, looking overwhelmingly concerned, as if Iida might break with the slightest touch.

Iida took a hesitant sip of the water, it ran like lava down his throat, burning everything it touched. His throat seized and he gave a feeble cough.

"Its okay." His brother said in reasurance, he had returned to his chair at Iida's bedside. "Take it slow."

After a minute of slow, measured, sips Iida had finished his glass and his brother poured him a new one.

Before properly passing it to his disabled brother, Tensei took a deep breath; as if he were about to launch into something important.

"I…" He began slowly, not meeting his younger brother's apprehensive blue eyes. "I'm sorry if I really scared you."

He had acknowledged it! He was bringing up that nightmarish day all on his own.

Iida tried to hide his surprise by raising the glass to his lips and taking a long, slow, sip. His hands began to shake, so he clutched the glass harder.

"I didn't realize how terrifying I must have seemed. I mean I was scary enough to make you run like that for days. As your brother I don't know how I let myself do that to you." He gave his brother a sheepish, almost guilty, smile of apology. "I guess that I must have been a little too overexcited."

A little too overexcited? He had been downright psychotic, and he hadn't been the only one…

A door slammed open off to the right, Iida's head snapped over in surprise. There, rushing towards him from across the room was a petite girl with a brown bob and watering eyes.

She pounced onto Iida's bed, tackling him in a hug. Iida just barely managed to get the glass out of her range, and Tensei grabbed it and put it safely aside.

"You're awake!" She exclaimed. "How are you feeling? Are you okay?" Ochako was scanning his face, her brows knit in concern but her lips stretched in excitement. "How's your fever?" She shoved her hand onto his forehead.

"His fever broke a little while ago." Tensei reported with a relieved smile, they had just saved him from a very awkward conversation.

"H-how are you doing Iida?" A green haired boy began nervously with a small smile, as he approached from the doorway. "I'm glad to see that you're looking better than when we found you." His eyes fell on the brunette as he reached the bed. "Um, Ochako, I think that you should get off of him…" Izuku said sheepishly.

"Oh right!" Ochako exclaimed in realization, patting herself and rising into the air, an apologetic smile on her lips. "Sorry about that Iida. I hope that I didn't break anything. I didn't hurt you too much right?"

Iida looked between them in confusion, they were acting too normal, too happy. Not to mention, he had never seen Ochako use her quirk so casually; normally she would have been too unbearably nauseous to even levitate another person, much less herself.

"N-no. Don't worry a-about it." Iida responded huskily, looking away.

"Iida?" Ochako asked with a light little giggle, but when Iida looked up to meet her eyes, her expression didn't match her tone at all. "Why do you sound so scared?"

Despite her sickeningly sweet tone, her eyes were narrowed in scrutiny, something wild and unpredictable was flickering in them, and her lips were spread in a threatening grin.

He couldn't respond, his eyes were fixed on his levitating friend in terror.

What happened? Why had her demeanor change?

What was she going to do?

"Ochako, don't get so excited." Izuku said from next to Tensei, interrupting the charged silence. "You just need to be a little more patient."

"I don't see why we can't take him to see the master now…" She said, suddenly broken out of her mortifying spell and pouting as she rotated weightlessly in the air. "I mean he's awake, right? What's the hold up?"

Tensei sighed, he sounded exhausted. "I'm afraid that if we move him before he's recovered enough, he'll relapse. I just don't want to take the risk."

"But he looks fine-" Ochako tried to refute.

"The Master has agreed with Tensei's assessment." Izuku interrupted, calm and logical. "You know that he wants his warriors healthy. So, we should at least wait until he can stomach real food. After all, it'll only be a few days. I'm sure that you can wait that long." He extended his hand to Ochako, smiling reassuringly.

"Fine." She said, relenting with a roll of her eyes, and she reached out to grab his hand. As Izuku pulled her back down to earth, Ochako looked at Iida and shot him an apologetic smile. "Sorry about that Iida. I-I didn't mean to scare you. I just well… I don't like the idea of you not being with us."

A jolt of fear ran down Iida's spine. She meant under their 'master's control.

Izuku must have seen the blood drain from his face because he started trying to get Ochako out of the room."Come on, come on." He said, shoving her towards the door. "You're stressing him out more. Let him recover in peace."

"Fine, fine. I get it," Ochako whined, "and I can walk on my own, you know." before she was shoved into the hallway.

"Bye Iida, get better soon." Izuku said with a smile before disappearing through the door.

Once they were gone, Tensei let out a little chuckle of amusement. "They're quite the duo, aren't they? I never knew that you had such sweet friends."

Iida bit his lip. Sweet yes, but they were also more terrifying because of it.

He was suddenly realizing how completely drained he felt. He needed to be alone.

"T-tensei…" Iida began, not able to meet his brother's eyes. "Do you mind if I go back to sleep? I'm really tired."

"Oh, of course." Tensei said, standing from his seat and collecting his book. "Let me just close the curtains real quick." He said, disappearing from view for a moment. There was a rustle of fabric and a scrape of metal before the light dimmed and he reappeared with a gentle smile on his lips. "I'll be back in a couple of hours with some broth, just in case you're feeling hungry." He made a survey of Iida's sheets, to make sure that he was properly tucked in. He gave a nod of approval and moved towards the door. "Well then, good night Tenya."

The door closed behind him with a slight click.

Iida was finally alone. A part of him knew that he should probably investigate his room and figure out where he was and what day it was, but exhaustion had returned for him with a vengeance. His eyes were closing of their own volition and his mind went blank.

Three days passed as his moments of consciousness stretched longer and longer. Iida exchanged small words with his brother, did some leg exercises, walked around the room, and sipped broth. One morning, he had even managed to keep down some semi-solid porridge; this, of course, had had his brother beaming. While, this was a surefire sign that Iida's condition was improving, it was by no means a good thing; because, though Tensei never mentioned it, it only signalled the coming of Iida's impending meeting with the Puppetmaster.

Throughout his three days of peace, Iida had been agonizing over his feelings on this meeting. He was sure that when he saw the Puppetmaster again, he would use his strange quirk on him; and then, if his brother and friends were any indication, that would be the end of Iida's free will.

While they didn't seem to be any less aware of themselves or any less capable as heroes, or rather villains as Iida had discovered, there was something foreign that had begun to slip through the cracks. It was a cold cruelty and an insatiable bloodlust that had warped them on some fundamental level. It terrified him to know that he would one day soon be consumed by the same subtle madness.

And that was without even mentioning their "master". They went batshit insane when one of them mentioned him, they started smiling and had this crazy look in their eyes; though they did their best to hide it from Iida. He couldn't tell if they felt bad about it, or if they were simply trying to make him feel less uncomfortable.

It actually bothered him more that his loved ones were acting so normal. If they had been unmistakably crazy and evil, it would have been so easy to simply forsake them, but instead his heart hurt whenever he saw them. Their stupidly normal demeanors and caring smiles just tore him apart more. They didn't let him hate them, but he couldn't love them either.

Soon he began to wonder what he would feel when the day came, after that crazy quirk was used on him. Would his heart settle? Would his emotions stop getting yanked around? Would he feel comfortable with them again?

On the fourth day, the question slipped from his lips.

His brother stared at him, stunned. "You want me to tell you what it felt like?"

Iida flinched, he realized suddenly that this question might illicit one of the insanity spells. But when he looked up to assess his brother's response, to his surprise, his brother was biting his lip thoughtfully.

"I suppose that it was… something like electricity." He began, still choosing his words. "Like being struck by lightning, it tingles, and runs down from your head to your hands and your feet. And then it's just gone. It's done like that." He said snapping his fingers. "Afterwords, you feel completely free, like there's nothing holding you down. Nothing matters except for...well you know." He said, smiling sheepishly.

He'd been doing that a lot, avoiding mentioning the Puppetmaster.

"Why do you want to know? Feeling nervous?"

"Y-yeah. I guess I am." Iida said, avoiding eye contact; this was rather common now, since he was afraid that he might catch one of them looking at him strangely.

"Don't worry about it too much." Tensei said with a reassuring smile. "It's all going to turn out okay."

"Right." Iida said, nodding but still dubious.

That night, as Iida lay in bed and stared up at the ceiling, a shiver of trepidation ran down his spine. In some corner of his mind an idea gnawed at him. There was absolutely nothing stopping his brother from dragging him in front of the puppetmaster. Iida had recovered enough to eat normal food and, though he didn't think he could run, he could walk once again. He had met all of their master's requirements for recovery. For all he knew, the meeting with the Puppetmaster could be as early as tomorrow morning.

He would have escaped long ago if he had thought that he had any chance of succeeding, but it was hopeless.

Iida had discovered very early on that there was always someone posted outside his room; be it Tensei, Ochako, or Izuku. Then, as soon as he had been able to stand from his bed, he had checked his window, sure enough it had been blocked off with sturdy iron bars. Ordinarily this wouldn't have held him, but he was only at half strength and was exhausted after just basic rehab exercises. Not to mention if, by some miracle, he ever got outside, he wouldn't get far, they would catch him within moments. Between Izuku, Ochako, and Tensei, this Puppetmaster had amassed three of the strongest quirk users Iida knew; he didn't stand a chance.

As he drifted off to sleep, Iida was submerged in nightmares. He ran through a never ending forest, pursued all the while by a myriad of monsters all wearing the faces of his friends, some of them were spider people with six arms with which they clawed at his clothes and there were some that had green scaly tales and long blue tongues.

When he woke up the following morning, to find Tensei pulling back the blinds, he discovered himself drenched in sweat.

Tensei turned towards him, and his bright smile dropping an inch.

"You look horrible. Are you feeling alright?" He asked, concern growing in his eyes as he leaned in. He quickly put his hand against Iida's forehead, after a moment of silent tension, he relaxed into a smile. "Oh, thank God. I thought that your fever might have come back. I was scared that we might have to postpone." He said standing and beaming down at his little brother.

Iida's blood ran cold. Postpone? Postpone what? He couldn't be talking about-

"Eat your breakfast quickly, Tenya," Tensei interrupted, laying a tray of eggs and toast on his lap. "you'll have to get into the shower soon. We can't have you being late after all."

Panic pounded through Iida's veins as he shakily grabbed a fork.

"You wouldn't happen to be talking about…" He couldn't even bring himself to say it.

"Right, yeah that." Tensei didn't seem to be able to contain his excitement. "Sorry, I know its insensitive to smile, but I can't help it."

Iida felt his stomach flip and he set his fork down. He wasn't going to have an appetite today.

Two hours later, Iida was sitting in a cozy armchair, facing the Puppetmaster and his unnerving golden eyes. They were seated in a study like space, with bookshelves lining the walls and an empty fireplace off to their left. Eerie shadows filled the corners of the room and the air felt ominously heavy.

"How are you feeling?" The man asked with a soft smile.

Iida kept his eyes trained on his hands. "I'm fine." He said hollowly.

"Well, you certainly don't look fine. You're as pale as a ghost."

Iida had to stop himself from making a retort. It occurred to him that this could be over much more quickly if just swallow his pride and got to the point. "Look let's stop beating around the bush. If you're going to use your quirk on me, just do it. I don't have the energy to play any mind games with you."

"Oh?" The villain said, raising an eyebrow. "Aren't you scared? You seemed pretty terrified the last time I saw you."

"Of course I'm terrified. I've seen what your quirk does, what it's done to my friends and family. They've become twisted and...and they've practically gone insane. But they aren't suffering." He looked up at the man with hard, cold, eyes, determined. "I'm done suffering and waiting for the inevitable. Just use your quirk."

The man before him broke into a wide smile. "If you insist. Then, please kneel." He said, motioning before him.

A lump settled in Iida's throat, this is was what his endless worrying had come to. He was just going to submit, but he didn't have any other options. It had occurred to him to draw this conversation out, but what would that do? It would only serve to delay the inevitable.

He rose to his feet and then got down on one knee before the man. He was smiling down at him, those beautifully unnerving golden eyes turning red as he reached his hand out to rest it on Iida's forehead.

A pressure slid his eyes closed and he was left to float in a dark void.

Warmth suddenly flooded his body like lightning, fire was radiating out from the hand.

At first, it was alarming and every instinct in his body told him to throw that hand off, but he couldn't move.

Then the heat became entirely pleasant, then something more, he needed it, he couldn't live without it. Something stirred in his chest and emotions erupted within him. He was suddenly angry, scared, lost, happy, hungry, thrilled, comforted, all at once. He was stuck in a torrent of emotion and sensation, unable or unwilling to escape.

Voices echoed around him, he felt his heartbeat quicken and it pounded in his ears. The words the Puppetmaster had previously spoken bounced around inside his head, suddenly seeming louder, more important than everything else.

He was at once at peace with everything and impatient to act. He was excited to be alive.

When the hand left his head, it felt like an eternity had passed, yet Iida was entirely sure that it had only been a matter of seconds.

"How do you feel?" A warm voice asked him, it was like water over stones, comforting but powerful.

"Amazing." He managed, his eyes still closed, as a smile stretching across his lips.

That was it? That was what he had been agonizing over for countless hours? He should have welcomed it sooner.

His eyes slid open and he was suddenly under the impression that the world had been dyed a different color; shadows that had before seemed haunting and scary now seemed cozy and inviting. The idea of seeing his friends and brother now seemed thrilling.

He looked up at the gorgeous golden eyes that smiled down at him.

"Welcome home Tenya Iida." The Puppetmaster said.

He couldn't help but let loose a manic grin. It felt good to be home.

* * *

Note: Not sure whether to continue this. Honestly just had an idea running around my head and pounded out a oneshot type thing. If you enjoyed this or have any ideas as to where this could go, I'm open to suggestions.


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